Cheating case: HC to hear Maha minister Kokate’s appeal against conviction on Dec 19

Mumbai, Dec 17 (PTI) Maharashtra Sports Minister and NCP leader Manikrao Kokate moved the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, challenging a sessions court order that upheld his conviction and two-year jail term in a 1995 cheating and forgery case.

The move comes as Kokate faces the imminent threat of losing his cabinet post and his assembly seat. In mounting trouble for the minister, a court in Nashik district on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against him in the case.

Kokate’s lawyer Aniket Nikam mentioned the plea before a single HC bench of Justice R N Laddha, for an urgent hearing, reasoning that the minister was set to lose his job.

While Nikam did not press for an urgent stay on the conviction on Wednesday, he submitted to the HC that Kokate was set to lose his ministry and that the Nashik sessions court, which upheld the conviction order of a magistrate’s court, had stayed the conviction.

The high court said it would consider Kokate’s plea for suspension of the conviction on Friday.

Kokate in his appeal said the sessions court had erred in upholding the magistrate court order and that it was liable to be quashed.

The conviction ignited a political row, with the opposition demanding Kokate’s immediate dismissal from the Mahayuti cabinet led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad accused the government of shielding the minister, highlighting what she called a “different yardstick” for the ruling alliance.

“Action is taken within 24 hours when opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi are convicted. Why is a different yardstick being applied here?” Gaikwad asked.

She said Kokate’s continued presence in the Fadnavis-led government only reflects the “arrogance of power”.

Earlier on Wednesday, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar said he had not yet received a certified copy of the court order to determine Kokate’s status as an MLA.

The convicted minister was absent from the cabinet meeting chaired by Fadnavis earlier in the day.

The complaint in the cheating and forgery case was lodged by former Maharashtra minister, late T S Dighole.

On Wednesday, Anjali Dighole-Rathod, daughter of late Dighole, filed an application regarding Kokate’s arrest in the matter. The minister was not present for the hearing.

Nashik District and Sessions Court Judge PM Badar then directed Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Rupali Nadvadia to take action in the case. Following the direction, the ACJM issued an arrest warrant against the minister.

The case dates back to 1989-1992, involving a housing scheme reserved for the economically weaker section (EWS) with an annual income limit of Rs 30,000.

The Nashik sessions court, which upheld the magistrate’s conviction on Tuesday, held that Kokate “dishonestly induced” the state to allot him a flat meant for the poor by submitting false income affidavits.

Citing bank loans for grapes and Rabi crops, as well as records from the Kopargaon Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana (sugar factory), the judge noted that Kokate was a “prosperous farmer” whose income far exceeded the eligibility threshold.

The judge said Kokate had applied for the flat in 1989, but it was allotted in 1994.

If the allotment took years, it was “incumbent upon him to inform the government” of his rising economic status and withdraw his application, said the judge.

The court also held that Kokate did not fall within the economically weaker section category, which required the applicant’s income not to exceed Rs 30,000.

Despite this, he obtained a flat under the said scheme, the court said.

“Hence, I hold that by furnishing false income documents, he deceived the state government and dishonestly induced it to allot the flat to him under the scheme meant for the economically weaker section of the society,” it said.

On February 20 this year, a magistrate court had convicted Kokate and his brother Vijay to two years’ imprisonment in the forgery case, prompting them to approach the sessions court, which stayed their conviction on March 5.

However, Judge Badar of the Nashik sessions court on Tuesday upheld the conviction handed to minister Kokate by the magistrate’s court.

The sessions court agreed with the trial court’s “finding of guilt” for offences that upheld the core convictions for cheating and forgery.

As per the prosecution, Kokate and his brother were allotted two flats meant for the Low Income Group on College Road in Nashik under the chief minister’s 10 per cent discretionary quota. PTI SP MR AVI COR SKL NR